I’ve made your NBC about a jillion times and I love it.  I haven’t made buttercream in several years and cracked open The Cake Bible to make a batch.  I followed the directions closely and it looks lovely - but it doesn’t seem “fluffy” enough.  In other words, it’s denser than I remember it - nearly to the point when tasted it’s like straight butter.  Sweet, creamy, DELICIOUS butter but not a fluffy icing.

Any words of wisdom as to what I might be doing wrong?  Thanks for your time and if this has been addressed earlier, please simply direct me to the thread and I’ll do some “catch up” reading.

PS.  I think you totally rule - I bought TCB for my 20 year old daughter who exhibits all the signs of a future foodie in the making.  Can’t seem to insert an emoticon so here’s a rose: @>—>—

I’ve had this happen when I haven’t beaten the yolks for enough time and when the butter was soft and squishy.

Start beating the yolks when you put the sugar/corn syrup on the stove.  Make sure you are using at least speed 6 on a KA.

Use cool butter; not ice cold unless you “shave” it like you would with a cheese slicer; or zap it on the defrost cycle for 30 second increments but be very careful about this.  You don’t want to start it melting in the center

The last time I made Neoclassic BC, I whipped the butter until it was pale and very fluffy, at least five minutes, maybe ten.  Then I whipped the yolks a full five minutes on high, like I would for making a sponge cake.  The resulting buttercream was increadibly light, fluffy and mousse-like.  Not that there’s anything wrong with the denser BC, it makes for a beautiful smooth finish and is also delicious.  It’s just nice to have control over the texture.  Whipping the butter like that also makes for a paler BC, though still fairly yellow-toned with all those yolks.

I rebeat the frosting while it was still chilled and it puffed nicely but I have a question…Isn’t the butter supposed to be squishy? 

I was trying to insert a smiley from my own collection which I can usually do on bulletin boards but I couldn’t figure out which set of tags would work. 

Thanks for your answers!  RLB’s neoclassic buttercream is my default buttercream even when nothing’s going on top but for this application, I covered a cake in fondant and needed something between the fondant and the cake.  (Made this cake for a fondant class.  It’s definitely not a masterpiece…LOL.)

Mousseline buttercream is much fluffier than the Classic or Neoclassic buttercream…maybe that is what you are remembering.  I’ve made both many times, and I don’t every recall thinking that classic buttercream was fluffy.

Thanks - you’re probably right about the mousseline buttercream.  I haven’t done much hard core cake baking in years and some of my memories are probably “dusty.”  In any case, the cake turned out nicely and the people at my BF’s job really liked it.  I made the fondant cake for a class and didn’t want that much cake in the house!

My sister and I just made 12 quarts of Mousseline for wedding cupcakes. We first tested NeoClassic and the general opinion was that it was too buttery and heavy. The Mousseline had a lovely, light texture. I should give the Neoclassic another chance, following Jeanne’s advice.

Rose mentions at the beginning of her buttercream chapter in TCB that all her bc recipes, except for Creme Ivoire, have 2.27 x butter to sugar. So the perception of “heavy” may come not from the butter, but the richness of the egg yolks. Less is more, with the bc playing more of a supporting role to the cake. Cupcakes seem to me to be the reverse—in some cases, just an excuse to eat icing! Of course, that depends on the quality of the cake. 

It’s also a matter of personal taste. My baking instructor acknowledged that the French, i.e. classic buttercreams are perfect for some applications, and that’s why we had to learn them. But for him, they’re too *eggy* because of the yolks. He’s British and added, “I can’t abide curd or custards, either. Had too many of them as a child for me tea.”

Good luck with your wedding cupcakes! Would love to hear more. Carol